Place of Latin America BACK TO HOME Physical Geography
Climate map of Latin America showing South America climate zones.
Climate
The climate of Latin America varies greatly due to the large area that Latin America covers. Areas closer to the equator like Ecuador have higher temperatures due to it's placement and how close it is to the equator. The Latin American climate is separated into several regions that are shown in the picture above. Most of the area is quite warm and some places are arid and have deserts. In most areas, the places tend to get cooler and drier when winter arrives like in the southern part of Brazil. Some areas are also quite humid and get great amounts of rainfall.
Landforms
Latin America's landforms vary from lowlands to high mountains. Near the east coast of Latin America has lowlands and have many pampas, which are like grass plains. Near the west coast of South America, it is very mountainous. Here, there are also Plateaus. This is also the same for most of Central America. There are many large rivers that run through the land of Latin America like the Amazon River. Also, a lot of the land is composed of forests.
Vegetation
Latin America's vegetation has a lot of farming and forests. The climate also helps for vegetation in the area because it rains quite a lot. There are rain forests like the Amazon rain forest and many other deciduous forests. Some land is lost to deserts, however. In those deserts, vegetation is very scarce and rare. But in many other areas, there are many scrub lands grasslands. Some famous crops are wheat and coffee. Brazil is one of the leading crop growers in Latin America. Human Geography
Man Made Structures
Mexico City, Mexico Cathedral
Statue of Christ the Redeemer Brazil
Machu Picchu Peru
Parque Central Torre Oeste Venezuala
Ciudad Perdida Colombia
Economy
Most of the economy is created through exporting crops and other raw materials. A major company from Brazil is Cutrale. This company is the largest juice producer in the world. The Cresud S.A.C.I.F. y A. (CRESY) is a company from Argentina that helps crop and milk production, and raises cattle. Not only is Latin America strong in crops, but also mining.
The overall economy of the country isn't great with a Global Income Per Capita of only 4767 in the year of 2006. The economy of families and countries are very unequal, however. Around a quarter of the population lives on less than two US dollars per day. The poorest countries are Haiti and Nicaragua.
Language
Since, the area of Latin America is very large, so there are many different languages spoken and different between countries. Some of the languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Quechua, Aymara, Nahuatl, Mayan languages, Guaraní, Arabic, English, Haitian Creole, Jamaican Creole, Papiamentu, and there are also more languages. Portuguese and Spanish are the languages that are spoke most in terms of population.Below is a table of many different language families with the exact type of dialect they speak. Many different countries speak the dialects and Mexico has many people speaking three different languages. Politics
There are many different politics here in this region. However, most of the countries have a republic or federal republic type of government. With this type of government, they still do have voting and a president, but some countries like Mexico use a system of parallel voting where voters take part in two different elections at first. Then have have second election to choose the president.
Religion
Mos of the Latin American population are either Christian or Roman Catholics. Around fifteen percent of the population go to a Evangelical christian church. Also, around 8,000 Latin Americans start to go to this type of church everyday, which is a huge change to the normal Catholic religion.
Population
Above are three different countries' population pyramids in 2005. The countries are Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, respectively. These three countries are very different, but they do have similar pyramids. They have a large base with children to middle-aged adults and then start to shrink. However, the fertility rates are very lowering. The rate went down to 2.9 children per women from six to one. The ethnic groups of Latin America usually have a European ancestry or is an African. Asians are a minority here in Lain America.
BACK TO HOME
Physical Geography
Climate
The climate of Latin America varies greatly due to the large area that Latin America covers. Areas closer to the equator like Ecuador have higher temperatures due to it's placement and how close it is to the equator. The Latin American climate is separated into several regions that are shown in the picture above. Most of the area is quite warm and some places are arid and have deserts. In most areas, the places tend to get cooler and drier when winter arrives like in the southern part of Brazil. Some areas are also quite humid and get great amounts of rainfall.
Landforms
Latin America's landforms vary from lowlands to high mountains. Near the east coast of Latin America has lowlands and have many pampas, which are like grass plains. Near the west coast of South America, it is very mountainous. Here, there are also Plateaus. This is also the same for most of Central America. There are many large rivers that run through the land of Latin America like the Amazon River. Also, a lot of the land is composed of forests.
Vegetation
Latin America's vegetation has a lot of farming and forests. The climate also helps for vegetation in the area because it rains quite a lot. There are rain forests like the Amazon rain forest and many other deciduous forests. Some land is lost to deserts, however. In those deserts, vegetation is very scarce and rare. But in many other areas, there are many scrub lands grasslands. Some famous crops are wheat and coffee. Brazil is one of the leading crop growers in Latin America.
Human Geography
Man Made Structures
Economy
Most of the economy is created through exporting crops and other raw materials. A major company from Brazil is Cutrale. This company is the largest juice producer in the world. The Cresud S.A.C.I.F. y A. (CRESY) is a company from Argentina that helps crop and milk production, and raises cattle. Not only is Latin America strong in crops, but also mining.
The overall economy of the country isn't great with a Global Income Per Capita of only 4767 in the year of 2006. The economy of families and countries are very unequal, however. Around a quarter of the population lives on less than two US dollars per day. The poorest countries are Haiti and Nicaragua.
Language
Since, the area of Latin America is very large, so there are many different languages spoken and different between countries. Some of the languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Quechua, Aymara, Nahuatl, Mayan languages, Guaraní, Arabic, English, Haitian Creole, Jamaican Creole, Papiamentu, and there are also more languages. Portuguese and Spanish are the languages that are spoke most in terms of population.Below is a table of many different language families with the exact type of dialect they speak. Many different countries speak the dialects and Mexico has many people speaking three different languages.
Politics
There are many different politics here in this region. However, most of the countries have a republic or federal republic type of government. With this type of government, they still do have voting and a president, but some countries like Mexico use a system of parallel voting where voters take part in two different elections at first. Then have have second election to choose the president.
Religion
Mos of the Latin American population are either Christian or Roman Catholics. Around fifteen percent of the population go to a Evangelical christian church. Also, around 8,000 Latin Americans start to go to this type of church everyday, which is a huge change to the normal Catholic religion.
Population
Above are three different countries' population pyramids in 2005. The countries are Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, respectively. These three countries are very different, but they do have similar pyramids. They have a large base with children to middle-aged adults and then start to shrink. However, the fertility rates are very lowering. The rate went down to 2.9 children per women from six to one. The ethnic groups of Latin America usually have a European ancestry or is an African. Asians are a minority here in Lain America.
Works Cited
GLOBAL/WORLD INCOME PER CAPITA GNI, GNP, GDP, 2008, 2007 2006, 2005 Wealth, Rich Country Ranking, Rank, Developing Countries : Finfacts Ireland." IRELAND BUSINESS: FINFACTS IRISH FINANCE & BUSINESS PORTAL - mortgage Ireland, protection, life insurance, Financial Services, Investment, loans, Irish jobs Ireland, Dublin mortgages, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Share, Stock prices,. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <http://www.finfacts.ie/biz10/globalworldincomepercapita.htm>.
"HowStuffWorks "Maps of South America Vegetation"" HowStuffWorks "Maps" Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <http://maps.howstuffworks.com/south-america-vegetation-map.htm>.
"Industry:Investing in Latin America." Investing Wiki with Research about Companies, Investment Concepts, and more... Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Investing_in_Latin_America>.
"Landforms of Latin America." Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <http://www.slideshare.net/guest48e897f/landforms-of-latin-america>.
"Religioscope: Latin America: Evangelical Christianity moves the masses - A report from Venezuela." Religioscope: www.religion.info. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <http://www.religion.info/english/articles/article_121.shtml>.
Pictures
"AILLA: The Indigenous Languages of Latin America." AILLA: Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ailla.utexas.org/site/la_langs.html>.
Argentina Population Pyramid for 2005. Digital image. Nation Master. Web. 1 Nov. 2009. <http://www.nationmaster.com/country/ar/Age_distribution>.
Brazil Population Pyramid for 2005. Digital image. Nation Master. Web. 1 Nov. 2009. <http://www.nationmaster.com/country/br/Age_distribution>.
Ciudad Perdida platforms. Digital image. TravelBlog. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/2524551.html>.
Craven, Jackie. Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Digital image. About.com. Web. <http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/ig/New-Wonders/Christ_the_Redeemer-lge2.htm>.
Mexico City Church. Digital image. Conger. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://geoconger.wordpress.com/2007/11/>.
Mexico Population Pyramid for 2005. Digital image. Nation Master. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.nationmaster.com/country/mx-mexico/Age-_distribution>.
Parque Central Torre Oeste. Digital image. Monografias.com. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://foros.monografias.com/showthread.php?t=26088>.
Peru (Cuzco area). Digital image. Geology Club. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.kutztown.edu/activities/clubs/geology/>.